The Fearless Leader
by greywolfheir
Summary: "I've shouted 'yes' till I was blue in the face! The angels aren't listening!"; One of the days Dean tries to say yes to Michael, Cas overhears and gets pissed. It's the day Cas realizes that he doesn't really like 2014!Dean.


Cas left Chuck's cabin with new meds in his pocket, feeling about as optimistic as a fallen angel can in a post-apocalypse camp that's slowly dying. In fact, this week was probably his happiest since Sam agreed to become Lucifer's vessel.

Of course, Cas would never admit—to himself, let alone others—that this was probably because Dean was changing. He was losing the iron exterior that he had built up since the foundation of Camp Chitaqua, since he was asked to lead people that he wasn't ready to lead. Now, Dean was reverting back to his old self—the one that tried to hide emotions but couldn't hide them from Cas. No, Cas would never admit that he liked this, because that would mean that Cas enjoyed seeing Dean break apart.

As if his thoughts were being projected into reality, Cas heard Dean's voice. He couldn't quite make out the words, but something seemed wrong. Cas turned in the direction of the sound, trying to make out any sense, but failing. And then…

"Michael, get down here!" Cas made out that sentence and froze. No. He must have heard that wrong. Dean did not just say the one thing that Cas never wanted to hear again. But Dean went on, only confirming Cas's suspicions. "I'm saying yes, you bastard, now get down here so we can end this!"

Cas closed his eyes, battling tears—of sorrow or rage, he didn't know. After all this, he thought Dean would never think of going down that road again. So much for happiness at Dean breaking down.

"Michael, get your feathery—"

"Dean." Cas said the name with just enough force to shut the hunter up. When said hunter looked around for the source of the voice, Cas stepped out from the shadows. Dean looked terrible. Tears were flowing freely, the scars on his face were prominent on his reddened face, and he looked completely drained.

"Hey Cas. No need to worry, just trying to find a way out of this mess," Dean said with an attempt at his usual flippant attitude. The hoarseness of his voice ruined the effect.

"By trying to call down Michael?" Cas said, trying to ignore the fact that his heart was shattering for this poor man. "You promised me."

"That was a long time ago, Cas. I realize my mistake now."

"You realize your mistake now," Cas scoffed. "You're only a _tiny_ bit late."

"I know, Cas, I'm so—"

"Don't apologize to me!" Cas yelled, stepping into Dean's personal space. "This isn't _your_ mistake! We all agreed to this—we fought _you_ for this!"

"But look where we ended up!" Dean fought back.

Cas couldn't take it anymore. Before he knew it, his fist collided with Dean's nose, and he felt the snap of cartilage just before the man fell to the ground. "You don't get to say that! We've fought too long and too hard for this just to have you give up!"

Dean wiped his bloody nose, blocking out the pain. "But there was an easier way."

Cas bent down and grabbed Dean by his shirt, getting in his face. "If it was easy, would it be worth it?"

Dean punched Cas's jaw, causing him to let go. "Damn it, Cas maybe it would! Then we wouldn't be in this hellhole."

"You're right, Dean. We would be in a _worse_ hellhole—the real kind," Cas shot back. He shoved Dean away, and stood up, no longer able to look at the man he once cared for.

"Don't you walk away from me, Cas!" Dean shouted, but Cas ignored him. That is, until Dean got up, looking to continue the brawl. Cas simply turned around and used Dean's momentum against him, causing him to fall to the ground once more.

"This was the _one thing_ I trusted you _not to do_, Dean," Cas fumed, swinging a kick at Dean's side.

Dean used his leg to knock Cas on the ground with him. "Then maybe you shouldn't trust me, Cas."

"We _all_ trust you, Dean. You're supposed to be our _leader_," Cas shouted, attempting to throw another punch, but he got deflected by Dean, who then had his turn at punching Cas in the nose.

At that point, it became an all-out brawl. They flung curses at each other until they couldn't any more for the pain. Neither of them knew when other members of the camp had come and tried to get their attention. They just knew that one moment they were fighting and the next they were being pulled off of each other.

Once they had separated, Cas took a breath and came back to his surroundings. He glanced at Dean, who looked completely defeated. Long ago, the sight would have hurt Cas. Now, the fallen angel simply spat blood at the man's feet.

"Good talk, _fearless leader_."


End file.
